


Allegations of Misconduct

by princessitsy



Category: Madam Secretary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2020-01-15 07:17:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18494053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princessitsy/pseuds/princessitsy
Summary: Elizabeth really hopes she’s wrong about this one, but she doesn’t think she is.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Based on lilacmermaid25’s prompt: Elizabeth talks to Stevie about the document being circulated by female employees – she has a mother’s intuition that one of the entries was written by her daughter. 
> 
> Content warning for what you’d expect based on that prompt, sexual assault/harassment. 
> 
> My first T rated fic. 
> 
> Once again this isn’t the jealous Henry piece, whoops. It’s coming I promise.

Elizabeth is sitting in the front room waiting for Stevie to come home. She’s twisting her fingers, desperately hoping that, for once, her intuition and analytical skills are wrong. If they’re not then not only does she kind of want to throw the whole government into the fire but she also feels as if she’s failed as a mother because Stevie never came to her about this. She’s probably going to feel the former either way, after reading through the document Nina reluctantly gave to her. The list of male government employees (and one woman) who abuse and harass their subordinates is exhaustive and extensive. Some of the names don’t surprise her (the former Treasury Secretary was always a lech and had looked down her blouse on more than one occasion), while others do (her own deputy, she’s still fuming about being blind to that one). She’s done what she can to start the process of getting all the people listed thoroughly investigated and if necessary, removed from their roles. 

There’s one entry that’s been giving her fits though, the one for the Deputy Chief of Staff David Richardson, one of Russell’s staff. At her behest, Russell has already put the man on leave pending a full investigation. She hasn’t had much interaction with the man, his portfolio is largely domestic so their roles haven’t intersected. The complaints against Richardson are copious and disturbing and include at least one account of full on attempted rape. There is one entry that stands out to her though, it was added about six months ago. 

_“Cornered me in his office, grabbed my arm, and pulled me close and told me ‘You’re almost as pretty as your mother (she is also in government), but I bet you’re less of a ball buster, you should have dinner with me tonight.’ He tried to kiss me and grab my breasts, but I used a move my Dad taught me and spun away from him. He muttered that I wasn’t that fuckable anyway as I escaped. The next time I was in a meeting with him and my mother he made sure I heard him talking to another guy about what she was probably like in bed. I avoid him now. Did not report.”_

The second she finished reading that paragraph her heart rate had gone up. She tried to convince herself that there was no way it was Stevie, that there were plenty of women who worked at The White House who also had a mother in government (who would be described as a ball-buster) and who also had a Dad who had taught them a self-defense move that involved spinning out of a hold. She thought about talking to Henry about it but she knew that wouldn’t go well. So, though there are a million and one other things she needs to be doing right now, she is sitting here, turning her rings around and around her fingers. 

Finally, Stevie walks into the house. She’s on the phone and laughing about something. She sees her mother and waves. Elizabeth crooks her finger and gestures to the seat next to her. Stevie frowns but walks over. “Sorry, Angie, I have to go, we’ll get lunch next week.” She hangs up the call and sits down, giving her a confused look. “What’s up Mom? I’m really fine about the article and I’m completely wiped so I really just want to go to bed.”

Elizabeth has been sitting here for thirty minutes waiting but hasn’t actually prepared what she’s going to say, so she goes with what’s always worked for her, straight-forward. She looks Stevie in the eyes, “I need to talk to you about something. A document came to my attention today, and parts of it worried me, well actually all of it worries me, but there’s one particular part that I wanted to ask you about.”

Stevie instantly looks away and starts fidgeting. “Is it the policy guidance on the migration treaty? Because I told Russell he shouldn’t let me write that section on Central Asia.”

“You wrote part of that? That’s amazing, I’ll be sure to read it tonight, I think it’s in my bag, but, no it’s not about that. This document is private, it’s one that circulates among lower-level female staff… “

Stevie pales and looks back at her with fear. “I...I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Stevie please.”

“Fine, okay, I’ve heard about it, but I don’t know how I can help you with anything.”

“It names several high-ranking men in DC, accusing them of harassment, including David Richardson.”

Her daughter has clearly inherited some of her subterfuge skills because her face doesn’t change when she hears that name. Maybe she really is wrong Elizabeth thinks, maybe Stevie didn’t write that entry. “I heard he was on leave, couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.” 

“Did he ever say anything inappropriate to you?”

“Look, he isn’t a nice guy, he once said that if you made less than 100k you should be forcibly sterilized. Russell only keeps him around because he’s effective at wrangling Congress.”

Elizabeth stares at her placidly. “You didn’t answer my question.” Stevie shifts in her seat and starts to fiddle with her phone. Elizabeth covers Stevie’s hands and meets her eyes.

“I mean he was sketchy okay? I could handle it though.”

Elizabeth reaches forward and grabs a sheaf of papers, she flips to the flagged page and hands it to Stevie. “Did you write this?”

Stevie glances down. “Yes.”

“Did it happen?”

“Yes.”

Elizabeth blows out a breath. She counts to five in her head and lists all of the reasons why she can’t destroy David Richardson. She squeezes Stevie’s hand. “Why didn’t you tell me honey?”

Her daughter quirks her lips and shrugs her shoulders. “I was just getting past all of the PTSD stuff from the attack and you were dealing with a lot, I didn’t want to bother you. It wasn’t worth it.”

“Oh baby, no, you are always at the top of my list.” She cups Stevie’s cheek.

“Mom, be serious, when you’re President and we’re about to go to war with Russia or something I’m not going to come to you with boyfriend problems.” Stevie turns her head causing Elizabeth’s hand to drop. 

She feels her heart ripping, this is one of her biggest fears about this whole thing. She worried about it when she became Secretary, but now that the campaign is starting up, she’s even more worried. She’s going to destroy her family, her children are going to resent her and aren’t going to see her as a mother. She pushes that aside, because this isn’t about her. 

“I’m not President yet and this is more than boyfriend problems Stevie. Can you tell me what led you to not report it? To at least tell Russell or somebody else? Are you okay?” She goes to grab both of Stevie’s hands, she wants a connection, but Stevie moves her hands away, clearly dodging her. 

“I told my therapist.”

“Well I’m glad to hear that.”

“It’s just…” Stevie looks down and twists her fingers in the same way Elizabeth was doing earlier. “It’s embarrassing. That stuff he was saying about you...it was horrific. And nothing really happened to me so it didn’t feel like I needed to tell anyone and start a whole...thing. Plus, Mom you know it would have gotten out and it would have been a whole thing in the media. And I’m fine, really, I was never alone with him after that and he just ignored me whenever I did see him.”

“Something did happen to you and it’s important. I understand that it feels embarrassing, I’ve been there.” Stevie arches her eyebrows in question but she waves her off, she doesn’t feel like going through Andrada right now. “Yes, I’ve dealt with it too. Intelligence is still a mostly male-dominated field, I’ve dealt with my fair share of creeps. It’s gone more underground since I became Secretary of State, but it still happens.”

“So what you’re telling me is it never stops?”

Elizabeth looks pained. “No, well yes, well we’re doing something about it, we’re changing things. I’m so sorry this happened to you. And it’s absolutely terrible that you’re in this position, but I think you should talk to Russell about what happened, I can come with you if you’d like. The White House is conducting an investigation into all the allegations in this document. It’s up to you, but it would help if you came forward, you would remain anonymous. I’m also telling you right now, that I will do everything in my power to make sure Richardson never works in this town again. And indeed, that he never works again period. I will do this whether or not you come forward. In fact, I’m doing my best to make sure that none of the people mentioned will ever have a career anywhere near this town.”

Stevie looks a little taken aback at the vehemence in her last statement. She forgets that her mother wields considerable power and that she didn’t raise to her position by backing down. She returns to uncertain quickly though. “I don’t know. There were a lot worse things I read about, mine wasn’t really a big deal comparatively.”

Elizabeth looks Stevie directly in the eyes, she wants to make sure that her meaning is crystal clear. “It doesn’t work like that. We don’t rank things based on how terrible they are. What happened to you was terrible. What happened to all of those other people is also terrible. None of it should have happened.”

“Okay. Can I go now? I really am tired. We can talk about this tomorrow? I think I want to talk to Russell about it, but I don’t need you there. I’ll let you know.”

“Of course. I love you.”

"Love you too." And with that Stevie skitters out of the room. She hears the refrigerator open and close and then footsteps on the back stairs. She feels absolutely drained. She ignores the 15 texts and 2 missed calls on her phone and drags herself upstairs. She knows that at some point she or Stevie will need to talk to Henry, especially if Stevie chooses to report. She can't do that tonight though, and she wouldn't feel right telling him without Stevie knowing anyways. She hates that she had to have that conversation with Stevie, she hates that she needs to have this conversation with Henry. She shouldn't have to talk to her daughters about how to handle sexual harassment, the world should be better than that.

When it comes to light a year later that she was the instigator of 'the mysterious purge' (what the media had taken to calling the sudden resignations of a number of high profile government administrators) she gets a five point jump in the polls among women, though she drops two points among men. She refuses to take any credit for it which drives Mike crazy. She shifts all the attention back to the people who came forward. She pulls Stevie aside later and reminds her of how proud she is of her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Same content warning as before: sexual harassment/assault, although probably a little more intense on that front than the first chapter.
> 
> I had no plans on writing a second chapter, but then you know lilacmermaid prompts came around. Based on a combo of these two lilacmermaid prompts (though it’s not quite an exact fill). “Stevie (or Alison) punches somebody who gropes her, and then is horrified that she’s caused major problems for Elizabeth’s election campaign. She has, but Elizabeth is so proud of her daughter that the whole Andrada story comes out for the first time.” and “Elizabeth (or Henry) can feel her child’s heart racing with fear against her, and it’s the worst thing she’s ever felt.”
> 
> I’m not sure how this would fit in timeline wise with her announcement and the attack in Geneva and what not so we’re hand waving that all.

She’s in the middle of going over a press statement with Jay when Nina comes in. The other woman looks concerned. “Your daughter is on the line.”

Elizabeth doesn’t look up, continuing to skim the paper in front of her. “Which one?”

“Stevie. She sounds…upset.”

She looks up at that, a frisson of worry tingling in her brain, she reaches for the phone while giving Jay a pointed look. He sighs and gathers his papers and leaves the office with Nina, closing the door behind him.

She picks up the handset. “Stevie? What going on?” All she hears are sobs in reply. Now she’s really worried, terrible scenarios are flashing through her mind. Her daughter isn’t one to call sobbing. “Honey? Are you okay? Where are you?” When Stevie still doesn’t respond, she’s about ready to get Nina to check with Diplomatic Security and the Secret Service to see if they know where her daughter is. 

Stevie finally responds, talking through sobs. “I’m at the White House. I’m okay. I think.”

Elizabeth is as far from reassured as she can get. She pushes the button to summon Nina, she’s thinking about calling Henry and getting him to track Stevie down, though she’s not sure if he’s in his office today. Either way, she’s heading to the White House immediately. Nina opens the door but before Elizabeth can say anything, her assistant is looking pained and saying “Sorry Ma’am. Russell Jackson called, he says you need to come to the White House ASAP. He sounded angry.” 

Stevie must hear Nina because she lets out a moan of pain when she hears Russell’s name. “Mom, I’m so sorry. It’s my fault. I’ve ruined everything.”

Elizabeth is absolutely baffled as to what might be going on, but something is clearly very wrong. “Nina, tell Russell I’m on my way and tell my motorcade I’m heading down. Also, call Henry, see if he’s at the White House today, if he is tell him to...Stevie honey where exactly are you?”

“I’m in the handicapped bathroom by Russell’s office, and Dad’s not here, he’s at a conference in Baltimore.” Her daughter’s voice still sounds weak and she can tell that she’s holding back more tears. 

“Okay, well I’ll be there in less than ten minutes. Nina, don’t worry about calling Henry. Stevie, I have to hang up now, I can call you on my cell when I’m in the car, is that okay?” Nina scampers out of the office. 

“No, it’s okay. You don’t have to call. You don’t have to come, I’m sorry...I...” and she dissolves into tears again, becoming unintelligible. 

She needs to get there and the longer she is on the phone the longer she is away from her daughter. “I’ll be there soon. I love you.” She hangs up the phone and power walks out of her office, grabbing her coat and her phone from Nina at the elevator. Once she’s in the car, she runs through the possibilities. A panic attack? No, that doesn’t seem likely, Stevie’s reaction seems too extreme. Even if she had a breakdown in front of the press it wouldn’t ruin everything. A screw-up with her work? That would have Russell steaming, but her daughter isn’t really the type to fall apart over a mistake in the office. It has to be something more. The car comes to a stop before she comes up with a satisfactory hypothesis.

Russell is waiting for her inside. She waves him off “Not now. You can yell at me about whatever it is later.”

She strides along the corridor. “Your daughter.” He sounds exasperated. “She had to do it in front of two reporters too. You’d better call Mike and get him to start spinning this before it derails everything.”

Elizabeth stops in front of the bathroom where Stevie is and turns to Russell. “What exactly happened?”

He lets out a half-laugh. “You mean you don’t know?” When she merely arches her eyebrows, he continues. “She punched David Richardson, I think she broke his nose, hey like mother, like daughter...” He trails off and she sees something click in his brain. “Oh god.” 

Elizabeth is seething. It’s all clear now and she’s ready to light something or somebody on fire. “I thought he was on leave pending an investigation.” Stevie hasn’t reported anything yet, but it’s all going to come tumbling out now. 

Russell looks shaken and has gotten visibly paler. “He was. He is. He was just here taking care of a few things, grabbing some personal items.” 

She knocks on the bathroom door. “Get him out of this building. Now.” She pauses, thinks. “Actually no, hold him some place, don’t make him comfortable. I’d like to talk to him.” She doesn’t wait for a response and enters the room when she hears the lock unclick. She closes the door behind her.

Stevie’s face is tear streaked and her hair is disheveled. Elizabeth stands there, she’s not entirely sure what to do, what to say. She has a general idea of what happened but not the details. Stevie partially solves her conundrum by throwing herself at her mother. She alternately crying and mumbling apologies into Elizabeth’s shoulder. She awkwardly wraps her arms around her daughter and pats her back. Stevie has never been an overly affectionate child, declaring at six that she was too old for goodbye hugs and kisses at school. It had broken her heart then, but this is breaking it so much more.

After a minute Stevie pulls back. “Why don’t we go someplace more comfortable and talk about it,” Elizabeth suggests. 

Stevie shakes her head, her eyes wild. “No, I can’t go out there like this.” 

“Okay, well let’s...”she eyes the floor suspiciously, it looks clean, “sit here.” She guides Stevie to the wall and they slide down. She wraps her arm around her shoulders and pulls her close. “Can you talk about it?”

“Russell told you.”

“Not the whole story, and I want to hear it from you.”

Stevie turns her head so she’s looking away from her mother. “There’s not much to tell. I punched the Deputy Chief of Staff, he bled everywhere, there were some reporters nearby who saw it all. I’ve probably ruined your campaign before it’s even started.”

Elizabeth shakes her head. Stevie truly is her daughter, unnecessary stubbornness and all. “I’m less worried about my campaign, more worried about you. What happened right before you punched him?” 

“He...it doesn’t really matter.” Stevie’s voice has gone flat.

Elizabeth squeezes Stevie’s shoulder. “It matters to me.” 

She turns back and meets her mother’s eyes. She takes a deep breath in. “I don’t know why he was here. I was getting coffee for Russell, I know he’s not supposed to have it, but it was decaf and he only has one cup a day, or so he says. Well he only gets one cup from me at least. So, I was getting him coffee, decaf, when...” she stops and looks plaintively at Elizabeth. “He didn’t really do anything, I probably made a big deal out of nothing.” 

Elizabeth just waits, not responding. “Okay. He came up behind me. He wasn’t touching me, but he was so close. I was at the counter and he put his hands on either side of me. I felt trapped. He said some things about you and about me...” She trails off. “It’s not important,” She says in a small voice.

“Tell me. All of it.” Elizabeth puts as much command into that statement as she dares. She doesn’t want to overwhelm Stevie, but she needs to know exactly how completely she is going to destroy the former Deputy Chief of Staff.

The words come out in a torrent. “He said...he said something like ‘You mother needs to keep her whore mouth shut and so do you. She might have protection but you don’t. Remember what I said about her a few months ago? Well maybe you and I will just have to do that one night, it’s a long dark walk to the Metro, plenty of places for us to be alone. I bet you’d like it too.’ That’s when I turned around and punched him. Then he was bleeding and people were crowding around us and I just left.” 

Elizabeth calls upon every iota of composure she has in order to remain calm. “It sounds like you did the right thing. He was threatening you.” Stevie just nods. “You were protecting yourself. And you haven’t ruined anything.” 

They sit there silently for a few minutes, Elizabeth periodically squeezing Stevie close. Her daughter places her head on her shoulder and closes her eyes. Elizabeth glances at her phone and sees three missed calls from Henry and a number of texts. She sighs. “Your father is trying to get in touch with me. I bet he’s seen the news.” Stevie hasn’t felt comfortable enough to talk to Henry about everything yet and Elizabeth has been dodging his inquiries about what’s going on. 

Stevie open her eyes and twists her lips wryly. “I guess I’m going to have to tell everyone now.”

“Not everyone, but Russell and your Dad? Probably.”

Her daughter sighs. “Can I be a baby and ask you to tell Dad?”

Elizabeth squeezes her shoulders. “Of course. How much do you want me to tell him?”

“Just tell him everything.” Stevie sounds defeated. “What about the press?”

“You let me worry about that. Now why don’t you let me go clear a path so we can sit someplace more comfortable than this floor. I’ll call your Dad too.”

Stevie nods her head silently. Elizabeth exits the bathroom and finds Russell waiting not far down the hallway typing furiously on his phone.

He looks up when she approaches. “Richardson is being held by security. Is Stevie okay?” 

She narrows her eyes. “As okay as can be expected. I need a room where she can wait until we get this sorted out.”

He runs his hand over his head. “Okay. Okay. Take my office, it’s close and no one will bother you. Oh, Henry called me, he saw the news and is on his way back. I didn’t tell him anything.”

Elizabeth nods. She steps away and goes into Russell’s office and shuts the door. She takes a deep breath and dials Henry. “Babe?” he answers.

“Henry...” she trails off not sure how to tell him what’s going on.

“What’s going on with Stevie? Is she okay? All the news is reporting is that she punched a senior white house aide.”

Quick and to the point, that’s the best way to this she figures. “He threatened her. And it’s not the first time. You remember that document from a few days ago that I told you about. The one that detailed allegations of misconduct against a number of high profile figures?” She doesn’t wait for him to answer, just plows ahead. “Stevie wrote an entry in there, about David Richardson, he’s been on leave, partially because of what she wrote. But he was here, today, he threatened her, she punched him. She’s okay.”

She hears a horn honking in the background and Henry’s harsh breathing. “You okay?” 

The barely restrained anger in his voice is palpable. “Yeah, I just pulled over to the side of road. That document...it mainly talked about sexual harassment didn’t it?”

“Yes.” 

“Where is he? Right now?” 

“He’s being held by White House security.” 

“Elizabeth?” There’s a world of questions and emotions in that one word. 

“I know. Just get here fast and safe please.”

“I love you. She punched him? Excellent.” 

She laughs. “I love you too.”

She hangs up and goes to track down Russell and nail down a few things. A bit later she is sitting with Stevie in the office. They’ve been talking about nonsense things. Stevie sat down with Russell and White House security twenty minutes ago and gave her statement, Richardson has officially been let go, he’s still being held by security though, because Elizabeth wants to talk to him. She wasn’t in the room when Stevie gave her statement, but she did hover near by until Conrad dragged her into a discussion about Russia. 

Stevie is now sitting silently beside her on the couch, staring aimlessly into space while drumming her fingers on the couch. “What do you think I did to make him say and do those things? I need to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Her voice is dull and lifeless.

Elizabeth’s breath catches in her throat. “Oh baby no. You didn’t do anything. Guys like that...they just...” she can’t quite find the right words to tell her daughter that sometimes men are just terrible, “the patriarchy is a powerful thing. You didn’t do anything other than exist. I’m proud of you though.”

Stevie looks at her in confusion “Proud of me? For what? Being an idiot and resorting to violence?”

“Absolutely not,” she says with vehemence, “for standing up for yourself, it’s not an easy thing to do.” 

Stevie shrugs her shoulders, “I...” her lower lip starts to tremble, “I was scared, I’m still scared.” She looks so vulnerable and broken, all Elizabeth wants to do is pull her into a hug and never let go, but she doesn’t want to force anything on her, given what Stevie has just gone through. For the second time that day though, Stevie throws herself onto her mother. Elizabeth wraps her arms around her daughter who is currently breathing heavy and fast into her chest. She’s a little worried, because Stevie’s breathing seems just on the cusp of panic, and when she shifts a little, she can feel Stevie’s heart pounding. 

Elizabeth takes a few deep breaths and reminds herself that now is not the time to commit murder, she needs to be here for Stevie. She pats her daughter’s back rhythmically, “In and out, in and out,” she reminds her, both of them really. She hums a familiar tune. She might be mostly tone deaf, but she still sung all of her kids lullabies when they were young, and right now she hopes a reminder of that time will soothe her eldest. She wishes Stevie were still small enough to be picked up and rocked, when her problems were able to be solved by a glass of water and a song. 

Stevie slowly settles but Elizabeth continues her ministrations until she pulls back. Stevie tugs at her jacket and won’t quite meet her mother’s eyes. “I’m...it’s just...I’m sorry...I shouldn’t have...I’ll hold it together.” Her word’s are tumbled together, but Elizabeth gets the gist and she isn’t having any of it.

“Stephanie,” she pulls out the full name to get attention and it works, Stevie stops fidgeting and looks up. “Stevie, you have nothing to be ashamed of, but I understand why you are, I...” She pauses, now she’s the one who is unsure. She doesn’t want to make this about her and it isn’t really something she ever considered talking about with her kids, but maybe it will help Stevie feel less alone. “I felt the same way after it happened to me and I broke down talking to your Dad on the phone. I thought I was supposed to be stronger than that, less impulsive, more in control. But you’re allowed to feel how you feel, something terrible happened and you can take some time and let it work it’s way through your brain.” 

Stevie’s mouth is hanging open a little bit. “What? When?”

Elizabeth sighs, she should have known better, she was never going to be able to get away without giving her the details. “A few year ago. Another...diplomat..grabbed me and I reacted badly.”

“Andrada? Wow he’s an even bigger asshole than I thought.” Elizabeth tries to keep her surprise at Stevie knowing who she was talking about contained, but she must not be successful because a grin plays at the corners of Stevie’s mouth. “It wasn’t really that well hidden Mom, and I was working in the White House then. You just connected the dots for me. You should probably be prepared for it to come up during the campaign.” Her face suddenly drops. “Oh right the campaign, the one that I’ve ruined.”

Elizabeth reaches out and squeezes Stevie’s hand. “You didn’t ruin anything,” she affirms fiercely. “And it doesn’t matter anyway, that’s not my concern, you are my number one concern.” Stevie shrugs her shoulders and looks away. Elizabeth squeezes harder, she wishes she could make her daughter believe her. “I will be here for you, whatever you need. On that note, I’d like to talk to Richardson about some things, are you okay with that? Do you want to talk to him at all?”

Stevie turns back to her, her eyes shiny with unshed tears. “I don’t ever want to see him again. But I don’t care if you talk to him.” 

“Okay, I’m just going to make sure he and I are clear on a few things.” 

Stevie cocks her head suspiciously at that but before she can ask any questions, there is a light knock on the door and then Henry comes striding in. He take them both in, a sad smile crossing his face. “Two of my favorite people, can I join this meeting?” 

Stevie pats the seat next to her and Henry quickly sits down. Stevie scoots closer and leans her head on his shoulder. Henry looks over at Elizabeth and they share a look of mutual understanding. “I’m just going to go deal with the last of the bureaucracy and then we can leave.” Henry nods and she stands up and lets her gaze take them both in before she quietly exits the room. 

Elizabeth stands outside the small office Richardson is waiting in and silently reminds herself that she can not murder this man. It doesn’t matter that every time she thinks about Stevie’s heart beating out of her chest and the tears running down her face that she wants to shove a knife between his ribs. She sucks in a breath between her teeth and counts to ten. Russell walks up to her just as her hand goes to turn the doorknob. 

“Bess, do you really think this is a good idea?”

Her eyes flash and she turns toward him slowly. “Are you planning on stopping me?” 

He holds his hands up in surrender. “No, but I just want you to consider if you’re in the state of mind to be rational.”

Her voice goes ice cold. “Are you calling me overly emotional Russell?” He seems to recognize the danger he is in and starts to say something in his defense but she cuts him off. “Because I am emotional. But I am completely rational about what I am going to do to that man.” 

“Just don’t punch him or anything okay?”

She chuckles, but Russell does not look comforted. “Oh don’t worry, Richardson will be wishing that I had only punched him.” And with that, she opens the door and enters the room, shutting it behind her. 

The man is exactly like she remembered him, he looks like a high school football player gone to seed. So, maybe he was once handsome, but now he’s all beer gut, receding hairline, and bad attitude. He looks up when she enters and scowls. “Of course it would be you. Can I go home yet? Or is my punishment for getting assaulted to be forever trapped in this godforsaken room?”

Elizabeth doesn’t respond. She sits down and pours herself a glass of water from the jug on the table and clicks the power button on the recording device sitting to the side, the one he must have used to give his statement. His scowl deepens, “No matter what your whore daughter said, I didn’t touch her, there are witnesses.”

She takes a sip of water. “Do you really think insulting my daughter is the way to go right now?”

“Would you rather I insult you? Okay, sure. Like mother, like daughter? Which would also make you a whore.”

She sets the glass down and leans forward. “Let me lay it out for you Mr. Richardson. Not only did you assault a junior employee,” she waves him off when he goes to protest, “Maybe not today, but you did previously assault her, but you also threatened the child of a cabinet member. I’m not sure Diplomatic Security or the FBI will take kindly to that.”

He stammers for a moment. “Yeah, well, way I hear it you won’t be a cabinet member much longer.”

Her eyebrows arch. “Because I will be so much less powerful in my next position?”

He laughs. “If you win.”

When she doesn’t react to his taunt he quiets. “Whether I am the next President or not, I assure you I will still wield considerable personal and professional power. I plan on using every bit of that power to ensure you never work again. You’ll have trouble getting work at a movie theater in Omaha by the time I’m done.” When he pales, she smiles. “You aren’t the first man to underestimate me and I doubt you’ll be the last.”

She gets up, ready to leave, but he reaches out and grabs her hand. “Fucking whore. You know I heard about what happened in the Philippines a few years ago, I bet you liked it when he grabbed your ass.” She yanks her hand back, but he continues. “It’s like I told your daughter, I bet you like it rough, like to be fucked from behind and treated like the bitch you are. I told her how I’d like to hold you against a wall and show you who’s the boss, fuck that pretty ass of yours.”

“It would appear, David,” she emphasizes his first name, “that I am the boss, as I’m the one who still has a career. Remember this conversation was all recorded.” She gestures towards the machine and then clicks it off. While he’s still floundering for a reply she leaves the room.

She shuts the door and immediately leans against the wall and takes a shuddering breath. She needs a shower and a glass of Scotch, maybe two. That man is vile, she wonders how he kept his job for so long. He must have just given up all attempts as facade once he was cornered. 

“You okay?” Russell, who must have been hovering near by, asks.

She nods and slowly stands up straight. “You’ll want to go in there and grab the audio, we definitely have him on creating a hostile work environment.” He gives her a curious look, but obediently goes to enter the room. 

She shakes her head in an attempt to clear it and walks back towards Russell’s office. Henry is the only one there, tapping at his phone. “Where’s Stevie?” 

He looks up and gives her a small smile. “She just went to gather her things, and then we’re heading out. I told her we’d order take-out from that vegan place.” He tilts his head as he looks at her more closely. “What’s wrong?”

She gives him an ‘are you serious’ face and goes over to the couch and starts to put her coat on. “Really?”

He ignores her provocation. “This is more than that.”

She sighs and turns to face him. “I’m just tired.” He looks at her placidly until she breaks a little. She sits down on the couch heavily and puts her face in her hands. “Richardson is just a truly terrible human being. I feel like I need a shower after talking to him. His mask has come off and it’s not pretty.”

Henry sits down next to her and wraps his arm around her shoulders and tugs her close. “Do we have him on charges?”

She runs her fingers through her hair, pressing down and massaging her scalp. “Well since we now have recorded evidence of him threatening to assault both me and Stevie, I’d say yes.” Henry gasps a little, she imagines he’s running through everything Richardson could have said. Henry will probably ask to listen to the recording, and she’s fine with it really, she doesn’t want to have to repeat those words.

Stevie comes back into the room. “Mom, are you going straight home? Can I ride with you?”

Elizabeth gives her a curious look, Stevie hates the motorcade, says she feels weird being driven around by a bunch of people in suits. “Yes, I don’t think there’s anything pressing at the office and I wouldn’t be able to get much done anyways. I’ll just have someone drop off anything pressing.” Stevie smiles and something clicks, after the day she’s had and things that have been said to her, Elizabeth imagines that it might be a little comforting to be surrounded by a trained and armed security detail. She continues to remind herself why she can’t cause that horrible man serious physical pain. A glance at Henry shows that he too is having the same battle. She grasps his hand and squeezes before standing up. Henry follows suit. 

“Okay, let’s roll out. I hear there’s expensive vegan cuisine in my future.” Stevie’s smile wobbles and Elizabeth worries she’s said something wrong, but then Stevie walks over to her parents and pulls them both into a hug.

“Thank you guys, for everything.” 

Elizabeth hugs her close. “Anytime baby, anytime.”


End file.
